A Tall Drink after a Hard Day

Originally uploaded by d.keep

I was collecting things from my office yesterday after the Mission service with Joe Taylor when I ran into this scene…(at right)
Ellie had found one of the soda bottles on the conference table in my office and was helping herself to a [...]

Four Wheelin’

Look at those smiles!

Originally uploaded by d.keep

Thursday afternoon we loaded up the four-wheelers, and Dan Yancey let us borrow his dirt bike, and we headed out south of town to the cycle park for a couple hours of trail riding.
Keith and Trey Waggoner joined [...]

The Adams Family

It’s amazing, you can live 30 minutes from each other and never see each other. That’s the way it’s been with Julia’s sister and family, Sandy, Melvin, Clarissa, Nick and Chris Adams, who pastor and live in Emmett. In the eight months we’ve been here, we’ve been with them rarely; time would not permit it.
So [...]

POJO’s

Those kids are getting big!

Originally uploaded by d.keep

Our kids are on Spring Break and their parents are just coming off one of the busiest weeks of the year. So we’ve decided to take some time this week to spend together as a family. Today we [...]

Easter Sunday

What an awesome day!
I cannot honestly say it exceeded my expectations, because my expectations were very high. But I am thrilled by what God did for us today. And not for a moment do I think the blessing won’t continue.
As best I can tell we set an attendance record today for a Sunday morning crowd [...]

Preparation

We had a great prayer time this morning in preparation for Easter Sunday. I have been looking forward to these times since we started three weeks ago. Not only do I enjoy the hour we spend on Friday morning, praying specifically for our worship celebration and the people who will be attending, but I have [...]

No Greater Love

Julia and I went this evening with Allen and LaRona to see “No Greater Love”, the passion play presented by 1st Nazarene here in Nampa.  Wow!
Drama is such an amazing way of communicating the Story, and this was one of the most professional Easter dramas I’ve ever seen. It was a moving (perhaps inspiring is [...]

New Insights…

Our church is here for this community, right? God has placed us here to show His love to hurting people. To be His light.
Today we had the funeral of Gary Tynes, a 17 year old Nampa high schooler, who died last week. More than 600 people packed our building to say good-bye. It was standing [...]

A Break

I’ve not been terribly consistent with the blog for the last week due to the fact I’ve been finishing up a class and completing a final project for my Master’s Degree. I still have three classes to go but for the first time I have an extended break in my coursework and for the next [...]

Who moved my cheese?

If you have an aversion to change you probably ought to get your hands on a little book I read today, by Spencer Johnson M.D. entitled, Who Moved My Cheese?
The book is a story of two mice named Sniff and Scurry and two little people, Hee and Haw, who were traveling through a maze in [...]

What are the chances?

If you read my two previous posts you’ll see why what I’m about to tell you is exciting…
This evening in our Wednesday service I shared the events of the last two days and my encounter with the mystery man on a bike. I also shared my optimism regarding additional encounters with him, including his salvation.
A [...]

God is Good!

(read previous blog post first)
I shouldn’t be surprised by what happened. But you’ll never guess who I ran into today…
I was headed to meet Julia for lunch. I was on Midland and about to turn left just before the Boulevard to go the back way into Red Robin. I was talking on the phone (generally [...]

Slow Learner…

I’m learning…the only thing worse than being taken advantage of is missing out on the chance.
I’m unlearning…old habits.
I’m unlearning…that I should be the one evaluating the legitimacy of someone’s need.
Forgive the transparency, but I’d like to give you the chance to learn from my mistake. I was returning a couple of DVD’s this afternoon [...]

Spring Forward

That’s what your clock should be doing sometime between midnight and 6am tomorrow morning. I’d hate for you to be late to church tomorrow and show up about the time we dismiss and go home.
Set it forward one hour and we’ll see ya’ in the morning!

Authentic

According to dictionary.com the word authentic means “not false or copied; genuine; real”. It also carries “the sense of actuality and lack of falsehood or misrepresentation. Authentic carries a connotation of authoritative certification that an object is what it is claimed to be“
I’ve been thinking about this in relation to the sixth beatitude, “blessed are [...]